


Tell Me Why

by flipflop_diva



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Collection: Purimgifts Day 3, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-17
Updated: 2014-03-17
Packaged: 2018-01-16 02:30:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 639
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1328596
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/flipflop_diva/pseuds/flipflop_diva
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Not knowing can be one of the hardest things to deal with, and Skye has never been very patient. A conversation between Skye and Melinda, set between 1.14 (T.A.H.I.T.I.) and 1.15 (Yes Men). Major spoilers.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Tell Me Why

**Author's Note:**

  * For [APgeeksout](https://archiveofourown.org/users/APgeeksout/gifts).



> Sorry for repeating fandoms! I wish I could have written you an Iron Man fic, but I've only seen the first movie. So hopefully you're okay with two SHIELD ones, and I hope you've enjoyed all three ficlets! <3

“I don’t need a babysitter.”

“Coulson says you do.”

Skye rolls her eyes. “What does he think I’m going to do? We’re on a _plane_. How far can I go?”

Melinda looks up and over at her. “Even to the door” — She waves her hand for emphasis — “is too far.”

She goes back to her reading.

Skye rolls her eyes again. She’s tired of lying in this bed. She’s tired of watching everyone else through the windows of her Simmons-and-Coulson-imposed jail cell. She’s tired of pretending to be asleep as she tries to decipher bits and pieces of what everyone is talking about.

Why can’t anyone just treat her like normal? She’s not a fragile doll. She won’t break if she hears the truth. 

She knows they are hiding something from her. She knows this because she knows they are talking about her, or at least about what happened. She’s not stupid. And they are not that subtle. Especially Fitz and Simmons. She sees their looks, their averted eyes, their intense whispering that stops when they notice she can see them. But as hard as she might try, and as fierce a gaze as she might muster, Simmons and Fitz, and especially Coulson, refuse to tell her anything.

“This is S.H.I.E.L.D.,” Coulson had said when she’d finally pointed out that she deserved to know. “Their medical facilities can cure almost any injury.”

“Yes,” Simmons had agreed, nodding almost freakishly.

Now, she looks over at Melinda, her babysitter for the night when everyone else is sleeping. Melinda is sitting in the chair beside her bed, straight-backed and rigid, one leg crossed over the other, intently focused on her reading. Her face is as it always is — impassive, guarded. 

Sometimes Skye wonders if Melinda would kill her in her sleep if she could get away with it. She’s pretty sure Melinda still doesn’t like her.

But she’s here, and maybe it’s worth a shot. 

“What happened to me?” she finally blurts out.

Melinda looks up and over at her once again. There is no flicker of any emotion on her face, but her eyes narrow slightly. Skye instantly regrets asking, but she _has_ to know. So she spits out the words.

“Coulson and Simmons won’t tell me anything.”

“They’ll tell you when they think you’re ready.”

Melinda goes back to her reading. But Skye isn’t finished.

“Why?” She presses. “What happened that they don’t think I’m ready for? I can handle the truth.”

Melinda is quiet for a few beats. Skye thinks maybe she isn’t going to answer. She debates asking again.

“Maybe they can’t handle telling you,” Melinda finally says. “Did you ever think of _that_?”

Her words are fierce, but her gaze is different than before — more focused, more intense. Skye feels a lump form in her stomach.

“What do you mean?” 

She whispers the question.

“I mean you almost _died_ , Skye,” Melinda says, and her eyes are piercing. “More than almost. You shouldn’t be here right now. You should be _dead_.”

She pauses.

“Do you have _any_ idea what it’s like knowing someone you care about — someone who you think of as _family_ — is just seconds away from death and your actions are part of the reason why?”

Skye doesn’t answer.

“I didn’t think so,” Melinda almost snaps. “Don’t ask again.”

She turns back to her reading, but not quick enough. Skye sees it. The flicker of emotion in her eyes. 

She feels like she has to say something.

“It’s not your-” she starts, but Melinda interrupts.

“I know it’s not.”

Whatever was there before is now gone. Melinda’s face is as impassive as ever. Skye sinks back on her pillows.

“Just checking,” she says.

“I told you to stop asking,” Melinda says.

Skye doesn’t bring it up again.

  


  
[Graphics made by me]


End file.
